Maharashtra: Death of a newborn thrown from a bus and the tragedy of abandonment

The woman had given birth on the vehicle during a trip in the interior. This extreme act is one of 160 cases of newborns dangerously abandoned every year in the garbage or on streetlights in the large state that includes the metropolis of Mumbai. The Church remains committed to welcoming life.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – The Indian state of Maharashtra has recently experienced a new tragedy involving a very young mother and her newborn.

The baby, who was born on a sleeper coach bus while the woman was travelling in the Parbhani district with a man claiming to be her husband, was reportedly thrown out the window shortly after birth, causing his death.

In the early hours of 15 July, a passerby on Pathri-Selu Road noticed something wrapped in a cloth and immediately called the police on its emergency helpline.

A police patrol intercepted the bus. The bus driver, who had noticed something being thrown from the vehicle, reportedly questioned the couple, who reportedly said the woman had vomited.

During subsequent questioning, the couple confessed to abandoning the newborn because they were unable to raise him. The two were from Parbhani and had been living in Pune for a year and a half.

The woman was taken to the hospital for medical treatment, while a case was opened against both for concealing a birth by secretly disposing of a body.

The infanticide on the bus is just the latest in a series of incidents related to the abandonment of newborns, which raise the issue of protecting life in every context.

“On average, 160 babies are found abandoned each year in Maharashtra, often in garbage bins or unsafe places,” said Dr Pascoal Carvalho, a former member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

“There are higher instances of newborns being abandoned in rural areas due to poverty while in cities such as Mumbai, abandonment is seen more in out-of-wedlock births,” he added.

On 28 June, a two-day-old baby girl was found abandoned in a basket outside a girls' orphanage in Panvel, New Bombay, while four days later, a 15-day-old baby boy was abandoned on a local Harbour Line train in Mumbai.

“While recognising the difficult circumstances that may lead to abandonment,” Carvalho explained, “the Church advocates for the protection and well-being of all children, often providing resources and support for vulnerable families and promoting adoption as a loving option, stressing the importance of family, and the need for compassion and support for all”.

• india
• maharashtra
• mumbai
• infanticide
• abandonment
• church
• pascoal carvalho